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Emotional day: Residents honor longtime village president for service

By DAVID GIULIANI dgiuliani@saukvalley.com 800-798-4085, ext. 525

June 24, 2013

Philip Marruffo/pmarruffo@saukvalley.com

Caption

Former Franklin Grove Village President Bob Logan tears up as he talks about his
wife, Cynthia, Sunday afternoon at the Winifred Knox Memorial Library. Logan, who
served for 20 years as village president, lost his wife to cancer earlier this month.

Philip Marruffo/pmarruffo@saukvalley.com

Caption

Former Franklin Grove Village President Bob Logan talks about current Village President David Atkinson (right) on Sunday afternoon at the Winifred Knox Memorial Library. Atkinson defeated Logan in April. Logan said Sunday that he and Atkinson are "good friends," and that "the community will have good leadership."

Philip Marruffo/pmarruffo@saukvalley.com

Caption

Former Franklin Grove Village President Bob Logan meets with members of the community Sunday afternoon at the Winifred Knox Memorial Library.

FRANKLIN GROVE – Former Village President Bob Logan choked up Sunday after receiving a plaque for his two decades of service.

“It’s not because of you who are here,” he said to the more than 50 people attending. “It’s because of somebody who isn’t.”

Everyone knew who he was talking about.

On June 6, Logan’s wife, Cynthia, 57, died after a brief battle with cancer.

Logan, 60, said he couldn’t have done what he did without his wife.

“She took care of the kids. We have four wonderful kids, mostly because of her,” said Logan, an employee of Kreider Services.

In April, Logan lost his bid for another term. Village Trustee David Atkinson got 47 percent of the vote to Logan’s 37 percent, with Tony Schaneberg receiving 16 percent.

Logan said Atkinson’s victory was what God wanted.

“David is a brother in Christ. The community will have good leadership,” Logan said. “David and I are good friends. ... His family and my family go back 45 or 50 years.”

Atkinson, who presented the plaque to Logan, returned the kind words.

“I do appreciate the job that Bob has done the last 20 years. My efforts to run against him weren’t to flip the village upside down,” Atkinson said.

Rather, he said, he was honoring the commitment to village residents that he would run.

At the time he made the promise, Logan had been planning to run for Lee County Board. Logan gave up the county bid, saying he wanted to focus on the village.

“All through the campaign process, we talked,” Atkinson said. “He has been my biggest helper as mayor.”

The event honoring Logan, who was wearing a suit with a U.S. flag tie, was held at the public library. Among those attending were state Sen. Tim Bivins, R-Dixon, who called Logan “a class act.”

In recent years, Logan has been one of the leading opponents of wind farm development in Lee County. That effort has changed minds. The county’s zoning board, long a supporter of such development, came out against the latest wind farm project a couple of months ago, though the County Board ultimately approved it.

Logan also has advocated open-government laws. In 2011, he asked the county to follow a new state law that required public input during meetings. The county refused to do so with its ad hoc wind farm committee, so Logan took the matter to the attorney general, who sided with Logan.

He also unsuccessfully fought against Sunday liquor sales at Casey’s General Store.

“I haven’t been able to see the benefit,” Logan said at Sunday’s event.

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